QHYCFW3 filter wheels utilize a new motor with direct drive and will reverse direction to take the shortest path when moving from one filter to another. For Example, in this demonstration the wheel moves from filter position 1 to position 2 to position 3 and then back to 1 again, over to position 7 and back to position 1 without ever making a complete rotation of the carousel. This saves time if you’re doing a lot of filter changes in one imaging session.
LED changes color for each filter position. The tricolor LED assigns one unique color or combination of colors to each filter position so you can tell if it’s moved to the correct position without removing it from the Telescope.
The CFW3 is also thin. This feature and the short back focus of the COLDMOS cameras means you can add one of several camera lens adapters for Canon and Nikon camera lenses for wide field imaging with the filter wheel.
In the center of the back plate is a 12-volt DC power port. This port is threaded for a short extension cable that is supplied with the camera that securely attaches such that it will not accidentally disconnect while you are imaging.
| Filter Wheel | Filter Supported | Recommended Gears | Back Focus Consumed* | Usable height limit
(need to consider leaving gap space) |
Weight | Note |
| CFW3S-SR CFW3S-US |
7*1.25-inch mounted/31mm unmounted | QHY533M, QHY183M QHY5III Mono Planetary Cams (CFW1.25”Adapter needed） |
20mm (SR)+4mm (Adapter） 15.5mm (SR)+4mm (Adapter） |
QHYCFW3S-US 5.5mm QHYCFW3S-SR 10MM |
About 430g | There’s no difference between S-SR and S-US expect their depth, but S-SR can be compatible with thicker 1.25” mounted filters. |
| CFW3M-SR | 5*2-inch mounted/50mm unmounted | QHY268M, QHY600M | 20.5mm+2mm (Adapter） | 10mm | About 720g | |
| CFW3M-US | 7*36mm unmounted | QHY163M, QHY294M, QHY268M | 17mm+2mm (Adapter） | 5.5mm | About 700g | |
| CFW3L | 7*2-inch mounted/50mm unmounted | QHY600M (PH/Pro) | 21.5mm | 10mm | About 900g | |
| CFW3XL | 9*2-inch mounted/50mm unmounted
or 7*50mm square unmounted |
QHY461PH
QHY600M-PH SBFL |
21.5mm | 10mm | About 1500g | A special adapter needed when connecting QHY600 SBFL and CFW3XL, see https://www.qhyccd.com/qhy600sbfl-cfw3xl-adapter/ |
*Back Focus Consumed
For the convenience of calculation, all the data displayed are the increase in the back focal length taken up by using the adapter, which is not necessarily equal to the thickness of the component itself. All the adapter data provided by QHYCCD are based on the focal length increment. For More information please see: https://www.qhyccd.com/astronomical-camera-adapter-bfl-solution/
The Calculation of Filter Wheel’s back focus consumed includes two parts: The thickness of the filter wheel body (like the 15.5mm of CFW3S-US), and the back focus consumed (like 4mm of CFW3S-US). Now new cams don’t need this adapter anymore, like QHY533M, QHY268M, QHY600M-PH SBFL, etc.
QHYCFW3S:
QHYCFW3M:
QHYCFW3L:
QHYCFW3XL:
QHYCFW3-S-SR
QHYCFW3-S-US
QHYCFW3-M-SR
QHYCFW3-M-US
QHYCFW3-L
QHYCFW3-XL
